Your phytosanitary certificates and export documents — filed right the first time.
We prepare and file phytosanitary certificate applications and export document packages for ag exporters across the lower 48. Flat fees, filed right the first time.
Run by an ag exporter, not a call center. Six years of international ag shipping experience behind every filing.
The problem
Shipping plants, seed, hay, or any ag product overseas? Most destination countries require a phytosanitary certificate issued by USDA or your state department of agriculture — and getting one means a government portal, exact botanical names, country-specific requirements, inspection scheduling, and a document package where one mismatch can strand your shipment at the destination port.
Your freight forwarder won't do this part. Most say so outright: certificates are “the shipper's responsibility.”
That's the part we do. Only that part — which is why we're good at it.
Fees
Flat fees, quoted in writing before we file anything.
We prepare and file. The government inspects and issues.
Every filing covers the full desk: we verify your destination's current requirements, prepare and file the certificate application, coordinate the inspection with the state or county office covering your goods anywhere in the lower 48, and coordinate any required treatment such as fumigation with a licensed provider, documented on the certificate.
State/county phytosanitary certificate application
prepared, filed, inspection coordinated
$95 + government fees
Federal phytosanitary certificate application
prepared, filed, inspection coordinated
$165 + government fees
Complete export document package
phyto + certificate of origin + invoice/packing list + destination forms
$225–275 + government fees
New-exporter setup
registration, your product's country requirements, first shipment walked through start to finish
$495
Monthly retainer
up to 4 filings/month — any mix of state or federal; government fees passed through at cost
$349/mo
High-volume retainer
5–15 shipments/month, with destination-requirement monitoring
from $995/mo
Your first shipment
$50 + government fees
Government fees are set by the issuing authority and vary by state. In Iowa, phytosanitary certificates are issued by the state on USDA's behalf at a flat $85 per certificate; federally issued certificates run $106 commercial / $61 non-commercial. We quote the exact fee up front and never mark it up.
How it works
- 1
Tell us what you're shipping.
Five minutes on our intake form: product, quantity, destination, ship date. Not sure of the botanical name? We'll confirm it.
- 2
We prepare, file, and coordinate.
We verify your destination country's current requirements before anything is filed. We prepare and file the certificate application in USDA's system, confirming every detail with you in writing first. We coordinate the inspection with whichever state or county office covers where your goods sit, in any of the lower 48 states. And if your destination requires treatment such as fumigation, we coordinate a licensed provider and make sure it's documented on the certificate.
- 3
You ship with a complete, correct package.
Certificate matched to your invoice and packing list, destination forms included, nothing missing. If your buyer's customs broker needs something, they get it the first time.
Who we work with
Nurseries and greenhouse growers · seed companies and research seed programs · hay and forage exporters · specialty crop and botanical shippers · online plant and seed sellers filling international orders · agricultural equipment exporters needing full document packages · and first-time exporters who just landed their first overseas buyer and don't want to learn a government system on a deadline.
Shipping something else? If it grew in the ground or moves in an ag supply chain, ask. If we can't help, we'll tell you in one email and point you to who can.
Why a dedicated desk
This is all we do.
Not freight, not customs entries — export documentation. Specialists make fewer mistakes than generalists doing this as a favor.
Mistakes here are expensive.
A wrong botanical name or a missing declaration doesn't cost a fee — it costs the shipment. Our process includes written confirmation of every application before filing.
Your time is worth more than paperwork.
USDA's own guidance tells first-time exporters to budget up to two months to learn this process. Your first shipment with us takes one form.
About
Cody Harrison, Founder
I spent six years co-running an agricultural equipment export operation — quoting overseas buyers, managing the deals, and watching the document packages decide whether our containers got released or held. I started Ag Export Compliance Co. because the plant-side paperwork is the step nobody owns: forwarders won't touch it, the government explains it but doesn't do it for you, and small exporters lose shipments learning it the hard way.
We're an Iowa firm, serving ag exporters nationwide. When you call, you get me.
Frequently asked questions
Your next shipment, filed right.
First shipment $50. Quote within one business day.
or email cody@agexportcompliance.com · (515) 466-7840